How to Dehydrate Food for Backpacking

Instead of buying pre-measured packages of dehydrated food for your next backpacking trip, dry it yourself. The most reliable way to dehydrate is in a food dehydrator you build or buy. With that appliance in your kitchen, you can buy food when it's plentiful or inexpensive and combine ingredients you like best. Recipes are available online and in print. A few general guidelines will help get you started.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Fruit and Vegetable Leathers

Things You’ll Need:

Food dehydrator

Blender

Ingredients: fruits, vegetables, meats

Salt, pepper, herbs, spices

Sugar, honey or preferred sweetener

Knives

Ziploc baggies in several sizes, vacuum-pack baggies or food sealer

Permanent marker

Step 1

Wash (and, if necessary, peel) produce. Purée in blender, adding citrus juice to fruits that will oxidize (turn brown) and sweetener to taste.

Step 2

Spread purée one-eighth to one-quarter-inch thick on the special trays that came with your dehydrator or on racks covered with parchment paper. Dry 5-10 hours, until leather is dry, pliable, and not sticky.

Step 3

Pry finished leather from trays, roll tightly, and slice rolls into sections. Wrap each section in plastic wrap and store packets in sandwich-sized Ziploc baggies, vacuum-sealed baggies or shrink-wrap in plastic with a special appliance.

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